Sweet & Wasted A HeroesXMen crossover
by TheLetterQ
Summary: Claire Bennet is the new girl at Xavier's, and Rogue is chosen to show her around.
1. New Blood

  
Sweet & Wasted  
Chapter 1 - New Blood.

"Rogue."

"Yes professor?" Rogue looked back at her teacher and protector, Professor Charles Xavier, her hand still on the door handle. Class had just ended, and Rogue was the last student remaining in the room, the class's overflow having spilled into the halls and eddying to their respective freedoms.

"There's a new girl scheduled to arrive today. Miss Claire Bennet," Xavier informed the southern girl. "her father and I were old colleagues and he's sent Claire to live here for a time. She is gifted, like us."

Rogue gave a hesitant nod, silently wondering to herself what the professor's point was. Then again, it was not terribly often Xavier's School for the Gifted received new students, and Rogue had never been personally informed of such events.

"I would like you to escort Ms. Bennet around the grounds this week. Introduce her to people, show her to her classes, make sure she feels comfortable and at home."

"Me?" Rogue's brows lofted and her souther accent thickened with the surprise. "Why me, professor?"

"Because," Xavier smiled kindly. "You were the new girl once as well. Also, I have intuition that you two will get along nicely."

Rogue searched her mind for some sort of reply. "When does she get here?"

"Well, she's in the entrance room now," Xavier manipulated the control on his electric wheelchair and made his way across the office, Rogue politely opening the door for him to pass. "please, join me in welcoming her."

Rogue's gaze followed Xavier as he headed down the hallway before tentatively, the girl sprinted to her teacher's side before slowing to match his pace.

"What's her power?" Rogue asked, brushing back her long hair and tucking the white streaks behind her ears.

"Claire has the ability to heal, much like Logan, ah, there she is."

Rogue looked away from Xavier and faced front. She saw a young woman standing before the still open front door. Flanking each of her legs was a suitcase, her back had a backpack dutifully strapped on it. Loose blond curls tumbled around her tanned, cherubic face. Her charming air was no less subdued by her simple clothing: a red t-shirt and blue jeans.

"Welcome Claire," Xavier said warmly. "I am Charles Xavier, a friend of your father's. How was your trip?"

"Hello Professor," Claire greeted, smiling a kind, but distracted smile. "It was a long trip and, I don't want to be rude but I'm kinda tired..." Claire's voice drifted off.

"Of course," Xavier motioned to Rogue who stood at his side. "This is Rogue, one of my students. I've asked her to show you around the grounds this week. She'll help you with our luggage and show you to your room."

The two girls exchanged pleasant smiles and casual hellos. There was a small awkward moment before Rogue moved to grab one of Claire's suitcases.

"Um, let's get you settled, huh?" Rogue said, hefting the suitcase to her thigh and turning towards the dorms. "Professor." she nodded to Xavier in farewell, a gesture Claire mimicked, only she chased it with a 'thank you'.

The two girls walked side by side down the polished wooden hallways of the school, occasionally passing by another student or teacher.

"So," began Claire. "what's your story?"

Rogue hesitated again, her leather gloves making a strained sound as she nervously tightened her grip on the suitcase's handle.

"Ah..." she exhaled. "I ran away from home when I found out I was a mutant," Rogue blinked, she was not usually so candid. "I was scared an' I ...hurt somebody I cared about." She cleared her throat, a sudden lump forming in it.

"So that's what you guys call it, huh? Mutant?"

"What do you call it?" Rogue questioned.

"I haven't really nailed down a term," Claire admitted as they entered her room. "'Ability' is the best that I've come up with so far."

Rogue put the other girl's luggage down, it thumped heavily as it touched the rug on the floor. "Th' professor say you can heal?" Rogue asked, pushing back a thread of white out of her eyes.

Claire placed her backpack on the bed. "Yeah."

"Does it hurt," Rogue caught herself, pressing her tongue to the roof of her mouth, mind flashing back without permission to when she asked someone else the same thing. "healin', I mean? I imagine bones set an' stuff. Can you even feel pain?"

"I can feel pain," Claire replied, riffling through her pack. "And sure it hurts, but it doesn't last long." She looked at the other girl with a pretty smile. "Paper cuts still sting like a bitch."

Rogue wasn't sure how to respond to that. She almost always wore her gloves now, and hadn't be able to experience the feeling of a paper cut. Once they were such irritations, and now she almost longed for it. Of course, she couldn't tell the new girl, lest she think Rogue strange. So far, all was going pretty smooth. It wasn't until Claire began to laugh softly that Rogue came out of her self pitying thoughts and became more at ease. Ease enough to join Claire in the chuckles. God it was lame, angsting over paper cuts.

Such silly little nuisances. 


	2. Girl Talk

Chapter 2 - Girl Talk

Rogue yawned, her mouth stretching into a wide "O". She was not the best student, and Ororo Munroe's slightly exotic lilt was a perfect lullaby. It was calm, soothing and rhythmic, and it seemed to encourage Rogue's sudden bout of narcolepsy. Only when Claire discreetly elbowed her ribs did Rogue sit up and attempt to focus on the board at the head of the class.

"You were snoring." Claire whispered.

"I was not." Rogue answered under her breath.

"Might as well have been."

"Can I help it if the life cycle of algae bores me to death?" Rogue replied. "No, clearly not."

Claire quirked a glossy-lipped smile before lowering her head to look at her notes. She jotted something down, before returning her attention to Rogue. "Listen, after class, how 'bout we review some stuff? Rogue?"

But Rogue was no longer listening. Instead, she was watching Bobby Drake, who was watching Kitty Pryde fish around in her bag. The girl produced a pen, which she lent to the young man.

His hand lingered too long on Kitty's for Rogue's liking. She cast her eyes back to her notebook. Claire stared a bit perplexed at Bobby, who could feel the new girl's eyes on him, his face paling a shade.

As though it were an act of mercy, the bell rang and the busy sound of the class collectively gathering their belongings and rising for freedom filled the room. Rogue scooped up her books quickly and made a quick line for the door. Claire stood at her desk, watching Bobby pass by, before she too, left the classroom.

* * *

"Rogue!" Claire called as she approached her acquaintance in an easy jog. She had found Rogue sitting under the shade of a maple tree, legs tucked underneath her, hands fiddling with the hem of her blouse. When Rogue looked up at Claire, it was in a distracted way.

"Lost in thought?" Claire asked gently as she sat next to Rogue.

"huh? No-...well..." Rogue thumped her head on the trunk of the tree in frustration.

"Is it about what happened in class today?"

She looked at the blond, a bit confused over to what she was reffering. "Class?"

"With the boy you were starring at." Claire filled in.

"Oh," Rogue muttered. "Y'noticed that, huh?"

"You like him or something?" Claire guessed.

"We're sorta dating," Rogue said, hesitantly. "But, with my powers, that makes it really hard." She let her voice drift away.

"Why?" Claire asked. "What is your power?"

Rogue swallowed, furtively raising her dark eyes to Claire's. "I...steal people's lives." she whispered in a tone that reminded Claire of that 'I see dead people' quote.

"You steal people's lives?" Claire repeated, confused. "How?"

"If I touch somebody, I absorb their powers and their thoughts. I can't help it. It just happens."

Rogue was now a little un-nerved, a little defensive, claiming that it wasn't her fault and that she could not control her ability. Claire frowned, firmly placing her hands on Rogue's shoulders in an effort to calm her down.

"It's ok. Calm down. Look at me. Breathe. It's ok." Claire sighed, releasing the calming girl. "Yeah, I can see how that might make dating a bit of a problem."

"Y'don't know the half of it," Rogue muttered. "Lately, Bobby's eye has been...wandering. After all, he can _touch_ Kitty." The word touch was spoken, paradoxally, with both venom and understanding.

Claire took a moment before speaking again. "But, you can learn to control your power. I've seen it happen before."

"Yeah, me too. But I just ...I dunno what's wrong with me." At that, Rogue bent her knees to her chest and buried her face in her arms, her long auburn hair falling around her like a protective curtain.

Claire hesitated before placing a hand on her friend's shoulder, but she couldn't think of anything to say. There were no comforting words. No cure-all. Just the two of them under a maple tree which rustled and danced in the breeze. Inwardly, Claire sighed, before pulling the troubled girl into a hug. Rogue leaned against Claire at an angle, head pillowed on the blond's collarbone and soft chest. She gathered her gloved hands together and tucked them under her chin, blankly starring out at the acreage before them.

"Did you have a boyfriend back where you lived?" Rogue asked.

"...Yeah, West." Claire smiled at the memory of him. "He was like us, he could fly. He was...he was weird, but he was always there for me, even when I didn't want him to be, y'know?"

Rogue smiled and nodded. "It must have hurt to have to leave him."

"Yeah," Claire said softly. "But it's for the best. I'm safe here, and without me around, West is safe from them too."

"...Yeah" Rogue agreed in a small voice. "Bobby would be safer if I stayed away from him, too."

"Aw, c'mon," Claire tried to perk Rogue up. "Don't talk like that. You two will figure out a way to be together. I know you will."

Rogue shifted, the air about her brooding and doubtful.

"I'm not super strong or anything," Claire began. "But I don't know if I can...I don't know, crush a guy. Or hey, maybe I...I mean..." she blushed. "maybe I'm a perpetual virgin, you know?"

Rogue looked up at Claire with a disbelieving smirk. The idea caused the two girls to laugh.

"Maybe when he's-..." Claire whispered the next words. "inside me... I'll heal up around him and trap him!"

Rogue sat up abruptly, giving Claire a quick slap to the arm. "That's sick!" the souther girl squealed before laughing.

"Hey!" Claire rubbed her arm in good nature. "You started it!" she countered with a shove.

"I didn't!" Rogue insisted.

The pair did not notice their audience.

"Uh, hey."

The girls looked up to notice Bobby looking down at them. "Am I interrupting?"

Claire stifled snickers behind her hand while Rogue answered. "No, not really."

"Okay," he said with a little bit of confusion in his voice. "I was wondering if you'd like to go see a movie or something tonight, Rogue?"

"Sure," Rogue answered with a shrug and a grin, her spirits much higher thanks to the inane womanly chatter. "I've been wanting to see I Love in the Moonlit Field /I , can we go see that, Bobby?" Rogue stood, wrapping her arms around his middle and looking up at him with her dark eyes. "Pleeeaase?"

Claire cleared her throat to cover more giggles. She recognized what was happening here. Rogue was upset with Bobby, and so now he would have to pay the price, via a chick flick. Bravo, Rogue.

"Um, sure." Bobby stuttered, careful not to show his disappointment at the impending torment this particular evening would thrust upon him. But the hug that Rogue gave him made it all tolerable.

"Well," Claire began, rising to her feet. "I'm going to go some homework. You two have a good evening."

The three parted ways, and Rogue laced her arm around Bobby's as the pair walked.

"What were you two laughing about?" he asked.

"Oh nuthin'," Rogue assured him. "Just some girl talk."


	3. Slumber Party

Chapter 3 - Slumber Party.

They had all gathered in the main room, moving the couches aside to make room for mattresses and sleeping bags to be laid out on the floor. The doors had been shut and there were almost excessive amounts of snacks and overly sugared beverages. The movie "Mean Girls" was playing on the 50 inch hi-def flat-screen, but it could barely be heard over the loud giggling and gossip.

Kitty held a pillow to her chest as she and the others listened to Jubilee's story, about how she caught spotted Piotr Rasputin and Jean-Paul holding hands on their way to math class. The other girls -Claire, Rogue, Kitty and Teresa- reacted accordingly. Teresa, being the youngest, was giggling sheepishly, and Kitty was blushing.

"And?" Claire asked from her out-stretched position on her mattress, head propped up by resting her temple on her knuckles. Everyone else looked at her. She shrugged back at them. "It's pretty common where I come from I mean. You mean you've never met gay guys before?"

A general murmur of 'no' answered her.

"Well, they weren't like on this movie or anything. They were pretty normal."

"Totally," Jubilee nodded. "So-Cal was teeming with metros and stuff."

"Huh," Kitty muttered. "Are we really that sheltered?"

Rogue dipped a chip into a bowl of salsa and bit into it. She enjoyed the spicy burn for a moment before speaking. "I think as mutant we have other things to worry about."

Claire shrugged. "I think that mutants and gays have more in common than a lot of people think."

After a moment of reflecting on the comment, the other girls nodded.

"So how was the movie?" Claire asked Rogue.

"Oh, he hated it." Rogue grinned. "But he was a perfect gentleman."

"What did you go see?" asked Teresa.

"_Love in the Moonlit Field_." Rogue giggled.

The others squealed at the girly mischief.

"Oh God," Kitty squeaked through the laughter. "What did Bobby do to deserve a punishment like that?"

Rogue's smile grew stiff and false. "Can't a gal get treated to a chick flick now an' again?"

Quickly, Claire cleared her throat and sat up. "So, you wanna hear something funny?" She was grateful that all eyes turned to her. "Wanna know how I found out I was a ...er... mutant?" She still had not grown accustomed to the term. "I was practicing in cheer, top of the pyramid. Then I was tossed upwards, and they were supposed to catch me. My catchers missed me, and I land on the gym floor and snapped my leg. Everyone rushed around looking for a teacher or coach. But then my bones began to snap back into place on their own. Then the pain stopped. Everyone was too freaked out to notice."

"So you can heal." Theresa surmised, and Claire nodded at the little red headed girl.

"Party game!" declared Jubilee. "I say we play Truth or Dare. I'll go first. I pick truth. Someone ask me a truth. Claire, you're the new girl, ask me a truth."

"Um, alright," Claire thought for a moment. "How far have you ever gone with a guy?"

The Asian girl squirmed in embarrassment. "Second base." She confessed.

Kitty's jaw dropped, and Jubilee swatted her with a pillow. "O.k. Claire," she shot back. "Your turn. Truth or Dare?"

Claire squared her shoulders and brusher her blond waves of hair off her shoulder. "Dare."

"Really?" Jubilee said, eyes twinkling at the challenge. "I dare you," she began at length. "To...kiss Rogue."

There was a collective gasp in the room, and both Rogue and Claire reddened as they looked at each other.

"But what about Rogue's power?" Theresa asked.

"Claire's a healer, like Wolverine." Jubilee pointed out. "I'm sure she'll be fine. Besides, it doesn't have to be a long kiss."

Another shrug from the blond cheerleader, and she leaned into Rogue.

"Wait!" Rogue gasped, leaning back. "I, I dunno about this. What if Claire gets hurt?"

"Then she'll heal."

"Don't push her, Jubilee," Kitty said. "If they don't want to, they don't have to."

"Ok, then they're out of the game." Jubilee said. "And they have to spend the rest of the night with their panties on their heads."

"That's groooosss!" announced Theresa.

"What if one of them's on their ...you know..." Kitty said.

"Well, then it would be very embarrassing, wouldn't it?" Jubilee replied.

"But," Rogue protested. "I can't, I mean, wouldn't it be like cheatin'?"

Claire rolled her eyes. She did not want to say that quite honestly, if Bobby could look at other girls, than Rogue should be able to as well. Maybe he didn't deserve her.

"Hey, Rogue." Claire said.

Rogue turned to her. "Yeah?"

And it was over before Rogue realized it had started. A quick touch of lips, soft and tasting like honey, though Rogue did not realize that until she licked her own lips afterwards. Claire grinned as she watched Rogue blush terribly bright.

"Oh, come _on_!" Jubilee coaxed. "That was a peck. I said kiss. Kiss or panty-hats."

With a defeated sigh, and a glare at Jubilee, the southern girl leaned forward and pressed he lips to Claire's.

Rogue could almost smell the lip gloss, as well as Claire's shampoo that made her hair lily scented. Rogue inhaled the smell, and her chest brushed against Claire's. Even though pajamas covered their breasts, the involuntary contact that Claire did not seem to notice made Rogue feel a bit excited.

Claire began to feel just a little weak as Rogue's power began to weave it's way into her. As Rogue broke the kiss by pulling from the girl, Claire wobbled where she sat for just an instant. The two looked at each other, Rogue was red and Claire gave the shyest smile the confident girl had ever displayed in her life.

"Ok," Jubilee announced. "Rogue's turn. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth!" She answered immediately. In her home town, Rogue was one to pick dare, figuring that truth was too safe and boring, but right now, safe and boring was just what she wanted.

"So, what's it like kissing a girl?"

Jubilee got a handful of popcorn down her top as an answer.


End file.
